Our 1st trip (O'Hana, Le Cellier, Tusker House, etc)

[luvmy3jewels]

We stayed off-site May 3-9th and paid OOP, so I have a mix of on-site and off-site restaurants inlcluded in this review.

May 3-

Lunch at Sunshine Seasons: C
DH and I got the asian sampler that included a chicken dish, beef dish and stir fried noodles. I did not care for mine and did not eat most of it, but dh said his was OK. I also got the creme brulee which was actually pretty good! Wish I had gotten the chicken ceaser salad or some soup instead.
My kids got mac and cheese and thought it was OK.

Dinner at Wolfgang Puck's Express: C
Everyone in our party agreed, the food tasted pretty good, but we found it to be very expensive for what we got. The sandwiches did not come with chips or fries, which was very disappointing.
My choice was a chicken sandwich of some sort and dh got the meatball sub. The kids shared a cheese pizza, which they thought was OK.

We visited the Magic Kingdom on May 4th.

Lunch at Colombia Harbor House: B
I ordered the garden galley salad and I can't remember what dh had. Two kids ate chicken fingers and my vegetarian had mac and cheese. We all thought this meal was pretty average for park food.

Snack - Dole Whip float at Aloha Isle: AA++
This was an awesome treat that I think I will crave the rest of my life!! Very sweet and pineappley, but delishous!!!

Dinner was take-out at Giordanno's (off site): A
We ordered pizza, fettucini alfredo and chicken parmesan for everyone to share and had a relaxing evening by our townhouse pool this evening. The food was delicious and we would definitely recommend it if you love Italian!!

May 5th- AK

Lunch at Tusker House: A
This was by far the best counter service we had on the trip!!! I had the salmon and rice, which was wonderful! DH ate the rotisserie chicken and he agreed it was very good. The kids had chicken drumsticks and mac and cheese which I think they enjoyed. I'm so disappointed that they are changing this restaurant, because we definitely planned to go back in the future!

Dinner at Outback: B
Dinner was once again off-site at the Outback near the Sherbeth Road entrance to Disney World. DH and I both had the Outback special with baked potato and salads. Both of our steaks were overcooked, so that kind of ruined it for us. Service was also very slow here.

May 6th- MGM
Lunch at Backlot Express: B
Two of the kids and I had the chicken strips with ff. DH had a cheeseburger and our little vegetarian ate ff and grapes since her options were very limited. The food was OK here, but it is kind of your typical fast food joint.

Dinner at O'Hanas: A
This was one of my most anticipated meals of our trip and I am very glad we visited. It was fun (kid's tried the hula and enjoed the entertainment) and a very unique experience. Dh and I enjoyed the food (he particularly loved the turkey and I really liked the steak and shrimp). I can't remember what the kids ate, but they were able to order kids meals from the Kona menu. We paid out of pocket, and I thought it was a little expensive, but overall a great experience for us all!

May 7th - Magic Kingdom

My Disney Girl Tea at the Grand Floridian: A
My oldest dd (6) and I attended the tea that morning while dh took the other kids and the rest of our party to the Magic Kingdom. It was a very nice bonding experience for us and we had a great time! The food was OK (just small finger sandwiches and grapes), but I particularly enjoyed the strawberry cake served at the end. We really enjoyed the overall experience of this. Yes it was expensive, but I think it was worth it in the end.

I will post back the rest of our trip this afternoon.

 

[John's Mom]

Thanks for the reviews!

 

[suzimar57]

great detailed report -thanks!

 

[dancemomnj]

Thanks for the report! Ohana's was a favorite of ours too! We can't wait to go back in July.
At Colombia Harbor House were the chicken finger the fried chicken fingers or were they those grilled chicken strips for the kids? Also how was the kids mac& cheese? Was it the boxed type or more of the homemade. I hate to say but my kids love the boxed.
Thanks!

 

[Minniespal]

Excellent reviews ~ Thanx for posting.

 

[luvmy3jewels]

The chicken fingers at Colombia Harbor House were fried. As far as the mac and cheese, my kids also prefer boxed and they seemed to like it. It looked creamy (more Velveeta box mac than the Kraft powder).

 

[luvmy3jewels]

Hmm...where was I? Oh yeah....

May 7th Magic Kingdom
Dinner at Cosmic Rays: B
If it were up to me, I would have graded it a C or even D, but I think I just didn't like what I ordered. I got a turkey and bacon wrap that was cold and smothered in mayo with lots of chopped tomatoes. I ended up throwing it away because I couldn't stand it. DH had ribs and someone else had chicken which they thought was pretty good. I can't remember what the kids ate, but it was probably chicken strips or mac and cheese. The kids' meals at Disney were terribly monotonous.

May 8th - Epcot
Princess Storybook Breakfast in Norway (Akershaus) A+++
I can't say enough good things about this experience!! It was wonderful!! The food was very good and consisted of a cold bar with fruit, pastries, and cheeses. Then they brought out plates of sausage, ham, eggs and potatos. I especially liked their fresh squeezed OJ! We visited with five princesses (Belle in yellow dress, Snow White, Sleeping Beauty, Cinderella, and Mary Poppins). They were all very nice and my kids and I loved it!! To me, this was one of our hightlights of the trip!

Dinner - LeCellier: A (adult meals) F (kids meals)
This meal was highly anticipated, since I had heard so many good things about LeCellier. I ordered the maple filet and dh had the mushroom filet. My mom (who was shocked by the prices) wanted to order the beef mac off the kid's menu, but I convinced her to order the free range chicken. The kids ordered cheese pizza. The filets and chicken were all delicious!! I don't think there was a crumb left on dh and I's plate when we finished. My mother is a very picky eater and she ate only the breast of her chicken (which she said was very good).
Unfortunately, the kids' pizza was a different story. The waiter brought them out and they were burnt! My kids took one nibble and then declared that they tasted awful! I told the waiter twice that the pizzas were burnt and inedible, and he pretty much ignored me. I think for what we were paying, he could have offered to get a replacement for them, not charge for them, or something to compensate for it. Nope...he barely batted an eye! I also ordered the maple and vanilla creme brulet for desert. It was OK, but I thought the maple was too strong for my taste.

May 9th - Magic Kingdom
We ate breakfast and lunch in our townhouse and arrived at the Magic Kingdom early in the afternoon.

Dinner - Tommorowland Terrace Noodle Station: B
DH orded a chicken noodle bowl. My mom and I had the fried chicken strips and ff, which were OK. The kids had PB&J uncrustables. This was meal was (once again) OK but I wish we had tried the Pinnochio Village House instead.

So, in the end, the meals that really stood out on this trip were Tusker House, O'Hanas, the Princess Storybook breakfast, and LeCellier (although i still wish I had made more of a fus for the kids' meals).

Overall, we found most of the counter service meals to be adequate, but not great (Tusker House being the exception). We found that paying out of pocket was really expensive, and would definitely do the dining plan if we had stayed on-site!! I wouldn't say that any place we ate was a great value for what we ate, but it's park food so you take what you can get.

I hope that my reviews are helpful for someone that is planning their next trip to Disney!!

 

[luvmy3jewels]

I just realized one review that I left off, which probably doesn't matter since it was off-site. But I did want to warn everyone away from the Cracker Barrel restaurant located near the Sherbeth Road entrance to Disney. We ate dinner there one night of our trip and it was one of the worst experiences ever!! The service was awful and the food was not good. We frequently eat at Cracker Barrel when traveling, and usually they have excellent food and service. This one was terrible! I ended up e-mailing their corporate offices because it was so bad.

 

[wideeyes]

Thank you for your review, I am so excited about going to ohana, it sounds so much fun, I got my DD a cute hawaiian print dress to wear.

 

[rachelj]

We went to O'hana's for the first time this past Feb, & we also had a great experience. Our daughters had a great time with the activities they had going on, I even joined them for the hula. It was a lot of fun! Not to mention we all liked the food, and were stuffed when we left. I'd definitely recommend it.

I'd also like to comment on the Dole Whip. This year was the first time I'd tried that as well, & it was fantastic!! I've craved it several times since. I will definitely be getting some of that next visit!!

 

[swankybeth]

Thanks for sharing your reviews. The Tusker House salmon is my favorite counter service meal and I'm sad to see it go.

 

[BabyPiglet]

Great reviews. Thanks so much.

 

[DisneyJo]

Thanks for your reviews!

 

[dancemomnj]

The chicken fingers at Colombia Harbor House were fried. As far as the mac and cheese, my kids also prefer boxed and they seemed to like it. It looked creamy (more Velveeta box mac than the Kraft powder).

Thank you!

 

[natalielongstaff]

great reviews i love psb

 

[jockey]

Great reviews!